Whole of Football Plan - Released Tuesday

[midfielder]

Big day and the blue print for our future or so we are told... looking forward to see what it is...

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

http://www.wholeoffootballplan.com.au/

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au...out-20-year-vision/1euomwe7dsd6919gb3pxxaxn2m

The key long-term projections of the WOFP include;

• A 15 million strong Football community by 2035, including 1 million club members
• A distinctive Australian style of playing that puts our National Teams in contention for all FIFA and AFC championships
• Hosting the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as the driver of women’s Football participation and professionalism
• National competitions that attract 75% of participants to support a Top Tier club
• A combined pool of 3,000 elite male and female players from 12 to 19 vying for future national selection and professional contracts
• Academies that provide world-class coaching so that no Australian youth needs to go overseas to find elite development
• A redistribution of resources to community Football
• Lower cost and higher quality coach education from the grassroots to professional tier
• Making schools and social Football the focus of an “Anytime, Anyhow, Anywhere” approach to playing the game
• Sourcing Football facilities that accommodate the increasing urban density of Australian society
• Redefining the role of referees as game facilitators, not just as arbitrators of the Laws of the Game

Read more at http://www.footballaustralia.com.au...euomwe7dsd6919gb3pxxaxn2m#QESeVTy1X4OS176C.99

 

[dibo]

3000 players 12-19? That's about 20 clubs worth (in current structures - U12-18, W13-17). Gives an idea of where they want the A-League to get up to, given they want the A-League academies to be drivers.

 

[nearlyyellow]

From the "Turbulence" thread:

Sorry, I disagree.

"Only" is exclusive. "Every" is non-exclusive. A current drivers' licence is ID, but so is a bank card and a utility bill. There are different ways of getting to the same point.

Even leaving that aside, if you add in Hornsby LGA we're up to 499k - no need to push to the harbour. And we've had a significant presence north of the M2 since day 1, going right back to pre-season matches against Spirit FC and development links with GHFA.

Isn't that the point, the Plan contains a non exclusive pointer to every region with >500k. population which could sustain a license?

Anyway I agree with your second point about Hornsby Shire, but all the balls seem to be up in the air with the >500k. figure. Apart from the fact that we "claim" a fair part of the Northern Suburbs what's to stop a license being issued for, say, the area from North Sydney north to Palm Beach and west to The Hills District? I know, WSW claim The Hills is part of their catchment, but not necessarily correctly so, imho.

 

[VicMariner]

I don't think that 500k figure is too much to worry about. There are more than one criteria the FFA look at with regard to licenses.

In our favour is the fact we have 10 years of history in the league, we're not some blow ins struggling in their first or second season.
We are not, and never had, a melt down like Jets are currently having. In fact we have been one of the better performers over our history.
Past seasons have shown 10k average attendances are not unachievable.
If Storrie delivers what he has spoken about off the field (community engagement and getting the finances in order) and Walmsley delivers on the field we can exist quite comfortably in the HAL.

We are not going anywhere.

 

[midfielder]

OK my life maybe sad but I read the 112 page report and then when back over some parts of it.... while it does not detail specific plans what it does do is say were we are and how we want to grow.

The stand out figure for me is is the conversation rate of players to fans currently in Australia its 19% in Football for the A-League with 74% average in other major codes... it makes sense to me from my personal experiences... the challenge is how to increase this rate but even a minor increase to say 38% would change the sporting landscape in Australia especially if the player base keeps expanding as the report indicates it will.

 

[MagpieMariner]

I don't know whether this idea was mentioned, but looking at the shemozzle over the grand final venue, perhaps it should have been. I have been of the opinion for a long time that football should play it's grand final at the same venue every year, regardless of who's actually in it, like the AFL (MCG) & NRL (Olympic stadium). That probably means a purpose-built stadium, rather than using an existing one. That would prevent fighting the other codes for space at times like this.
I don't believe that you would struggle for crowds if no local team was involved, at least not in the long term. You only have to look at the crowds for the other codes, eg Port Adelaide v Brisbane 2004, Swans v West Coast the two following years, and I'm sure you have a similar scenario with NRL (I just can't be bothered looking that up ). I believe it's a case of "if you build it, they will come". It would also make planning easier for fans who have to travel a bit but who just want to go to the GF: they'll be able to grab bargain fares early because they'll know where they're going, even if their team isn't going to be there. And there are fans who'll want to do that - my bucket list has seeing a GF at the MCG, even if Collingwood isn't there, and I'm quite happy to travel any way I can from wherever I happen to be living at the time. I'm sure there are many football fans who would do this who love the game and want to see a great spectacle regardless of who's playing.
Where should this stadium be built? Simple really, where do you get the biggest crowds for just about any sporting event in Australia? Melbourne. They even get massive crowds for Bledisloe Cup or NRL State of Origin, not a bad effort in an AFL-mad city. Seeing that it's almost a given that our GF won't go to Perth, Adelaide or Wellington under our current set-up, having the GF in Melbourne all the time won't make it any worse for those fans (and a lot better for the Crow-eaters than Sydney or Brisbane).
Anyway, that's what I think. Let the debate begin.

 

[VicMariner]

Gotta disagree MagpieMariner. AFL is popular in the southern states and Melbourne is the Heartland and same for Sydney with the eastern states rugby league.
Football belongs to all of Australia, there is no heartland. This is one of the great differences with our sport. Sharing the GF around to whoever qualifies to host it is fair and proper and gives people all over a chance to see a big game.
I also think Australia is too geographically big for a Wembley idea. Not everyone can afford the time or money to travel so far.

 

[pjennings]

Right now Melbourne is the last place I would place a GF home. That the self-proclaimed 'Sporting Capital of the world' does not have a marquee rectangular stadium of 60,000 capacity is ludicrous. The AFL might have won a short skirmish this time but the limited amount of tickets available for the GF in Melbourne is sure to raise a number of questions. Prime among these is what happens when the AFL actually owns Etihad.

I do not agree with a Grand Final home. Every club should have the right to hold the Grand Final. This Grand Final - if it has a precinct fan festival, for those thousands who cannot get tickets at the next door Gosch's Paddock, should be a template for when we win the right again.

 

[Capn Gus Bloodbeard]

They can hold it at Lakeside stadium for all I care (just a grandstand). Still haven't forgiven FFA for taking away our home GF against the Jets.

But yeah, it's a shame that they don't get to maximise the spectator experience for this grand final.